Month: October 2014

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busy signals

phone_dangling4-219x300He picks up his cell phone, calls into a witty Sirius radio show on Sunday, and after only a few short seconds, he hands me the phone, and says, “What’s this?!”  A look of genuine confusion had usurped his entire countenance.

I put the phone up to my ear and responded with an immediate chuckle, deciphering the supposedly foreign sound. I realized that my clearly, budding-in-maturity teens, living in this digital age of abundant texts, Tweets, selfies and Snapchats, are quite possibly still ignorant of the infamous, decades-old, non-melodic “busy signal.”

“A busy signal? What’s that?”

Yes, even in 21st Century America, where cell phones often come as an extra bodily appendage, we are not used to someone or something being unavailable… too busy to talk to us… unable to be contacted, found, or Googled on an immediate whim. We aren’t used to “busy signals.”

We also aren’t used to something else — perhaps something even more significant. We aren’t used to being ignorant; better yet, we aren’t used to admitting our ignorance.

Friends, to say that one is ignorant is not an insult. To be ignorant means there is something we don’t know. Let me be clear: there are lots of things we don’t know! I’ll speak for myself… I don’t know how to fly a plane… I can’t ice skate (woe is me)… and I have no idea how to teach either rocket science or complex music theory.

Granted, there are lots of things I do know — lots of things, too, I have learned because I am responsible for their activity or for what happens in that area — but I had to be intentional, take the time, and humble myself enough to learn what I needed to know. We should also note, no less, that when the topic or task is something we are responsible for, then our ignorance may actually be a weakness. But when the topic or task is outside the realm of our responsibility, our ignorance is evident of neither shortcoming nor failure.

My sense, however, is that far too many are unable to admit that of which they are unaware. These persons may be highly intelligent. They may be our leaders. But neither intelligence nor leadership automatically equates to wisdom — especially if there exists an inability to admit ignorance.

Much of this seems happening in the world today. I see it in America’s current, shaky, foreign policy approach. I see the world crumbling. Just this weekend, I ran into a young woman who said, “Is it just me, or does it seem like the world is falling apart? America doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing.”

Not knowing what we’re doing… not knowing.

Friends, I don’t claim to know all the right approaches. I am ignorant in many of these areas. Now while I do attempt to humbly educate myself on what I do not know, let me also add that the areas are not my responsibility; hence, my ignorance equates not to weakness.

Thank God I’m only dealing with busy signals. And thank God my son had no issue admitting what he did not know.

Wishing more would humbly do the same…

Respectfully…

AR

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mom a

pinwheelYears ago, as a young mom with three little kids in tow, I remember visiting my mother-in-law’s home for the weekend — a too infrequent delight for our entire family. After we sat down for breakfast and the always abundant spread of eggs, bacon, toast, muffins, and more, Mom A excused herself from the table, went to the pantry, and promptly placed a fresh box of Nabisco Pinwheels smack-dab in the middle of our meal. Yes, Pinwheels. Yes, breakfast. You know the ones: those old fashioned, marshmallow cream, mini-Bundt cake looking cookies, totally doused in sugar, covered in oh-so-unhealthy chocolate.

As a young mom committed to raising my kids in the way they should go, I couldn’t believe it. Pinwheels… really?! How could my mother-in-law, who’s supposedly older and wiser and attempting to help us in this prudent, persevering, raising-of-kids process, even think of putting such a sugar fest right in front of my boys? But having one of those indignant, self-righteous moments that every unknowingly immature, growing parent must confront now and then, I remained silent, said nothing, while quietly steaming inside that my kids were about to be ruined for life.

Funny. I’d like that moment back right now.

I stand amazed — and humbled — at how much we sometimes don’t know… and don’t know we don’t know…

My righteous indignation was undoubtedly well-founded, as of course, each of us wants to contribute positively to the lives of others; of course, we want to be healthy; and of course, as young parents we’re often feel we’re doing the very best we can. But what I couldn’t grasp at the time was how the offering of an unexpected, sincere treat did not impede any progress. In fact, eating those sweet Pinwheels may have been healthier in an emotional sense — noting how we were pausing to enjoy something we typically don’t… how we were intentionally enjoying something good.

My mother-in-law modeled many things well for our family. Among them…

… how to eat a blueberry bagel…

… how to semi-subtly tap in a puzzle piece, so that everyone would know you found exactly the right piece…

… how going to church every Sunday is less important than an authentic relationship with Jesus…

… how to be intentional with boys…

… how to discern really good barbecue…

… how to be consistent in honoring your spouse…

… how to be generous…

… how to be faithful…

… how to love a child other than your own…

… and how and when to intentionally enjoy a treat — how to savor something good.

After only a short stay in the hospital, Mom A passed away somewhat suddenly this past week. She had lived a good life, and valiantly modeling her faith for us once more, she was ready to go — embracing both what’s beautiful and next. I will miss her dearly. I will also be serving Pinwheels soon for breakfast.

Respectfully… lovingly… with both a wink and a tear…

AR

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khorosan

middle-east-mapAs we found ourselves recently shocked by reality — that grown men would intentionally decapitate innocent others in the name of their so-called religion — most of us have begun paying increased attention to terror in the Middle East. Not since the unspeakable wake of 9/11 have we consistently been so alarmed. With this renewed attention, we’ve learned some new terms: ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — and ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. (The Levant is a larger Middle Eastern area that includes Lebanon and Jordan in addition to Syria.) Just last week, a new term arose: “the Khorosan group.” [or “Khorasan”]

Now let me immediately acknowledge that the Intramuralist is by no means aware of all geopolitical terminology. Many things fly over, under, and/or right through my desired, observant radar. But I found it odd that all of a sudden the United States was conducting airstrikes against “the Khorosan group” — and far more than this semi-humble observer had never heard the phrase before.

I began asking questions. I found it odd that still early this week, the definition of “Khorosan” in Wikipedia was nothing short of ambiguous, offering only six, brief potential meanings, from a historic region to a wheat variety.

I searched ample sites… liberal, conservative, factual, subjective. I repeatedly read the narrative of Khorosan being “a little-known terror network” (very little, apparently). I found a few who suggest an active, existent sect. I found still more repeaters of indeterminate talking points. I found one more perspective that scared me. Note: I don’t know if this is true…

Andrew C. McCarthy is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York — the same position once held respectively by Louis Freeh and Rudy Giuliani. McCarthy is most known for the conviction of Islamic terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and the 11 other defendants of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing (according to Wikipedia, which had far more information on him, I might add). While McCarthy embraces conservative politics, he is respected across partisan lines because of his noteworthy background in terrorism prosecution; he is knowledgeable. He believes the Khorosan group is fictitious.

McCarthy’s opinion is certainly not widespread nor unanimous. He acknowledges the historic region definition, but adds that the name is one “the administration came up with, calculating that Khorosan — the Iranian-Afghan border region — had sufficient connection to jihadist lore that no one would call the president on it.”

McCarthy argues that Pres. Obama has repeatedly boasted that al-Qaeda has been decimated under his watch, often substantiating the claim by the killing of bin Laden. McCarthy continues by saying Obama has routinely dismissed any serious rise of al-Qaeda, blaming the current threat on all things other than mistakes in his discernment or decision-making. Obama diminishes any perspective contrary to his desired rhetoric of strong leadership. And in perhaps his most poignant criticism, McCarthy adds: “Obama is not the manner of man who can say, ‘I was wrong: It turns out that al-Qaeda is actually on the rise, its Islamic State faction is overwhelming the region, and American interests — perhaps even American territory — are profoundly threatened.’ So instead . . . you got ‘the Khorosan Group.’ ”

Let me be very clear: I hope Andrew McCarthy is wrong. Many believe he is. Many believe he’s wrong in that the group is not fictitious, but that Khorosan is not an accurate representation of the entire picture, as it’s merely a small terrorist cell; in other words, the group may not be fictitious, but it may be overhyped.

The part that concerns this observer most is this administration’s tendency to embrace hyperbole in attempts to seemingly manipulate the public narrative… “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor…” “not even a smidgen of corruption” in the IRS. These are untrue. While manipulative rhetoric is certainly not indigenous to this administration, it greatly concerns this observer that the truth is so ambiguous.

Respectfully…

AR